History

• There were 4 main long term causes for the French Revolution

  • Taxation and poverty
  • Financial issues
  • Abuse of power by Louis XVI
  • Growing number of critics in france
• The French Revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1815
• There were 3 estates in the French Revolution times

  First estate

  • Clergy = church
  • 130,000 people
  • They paid no taxes

  second estate

  • Nobility
  • 120,000-250, 000 people
  • No taxes

  Third Estate

  • Peasants, merchants, doctors etc
  • Paid all taxes
  • No rights
  • No political say
• In 1789 there was an economic crisis due to bad harvests and high prices which led to food riots.
• On May 5th 1789, the Estates General met at Versailles but they had different ideas about how many votes each group would have. The first two estates wanted one vote between them while the third estate wanted one vote per person. This caused tension as the third estate felt like their voices weren't being heard.